‘Riyadh Syrian opposition conference picks committee for talks with regime’, says UK-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi’s headline
The agreement by Syrian opposition politicians and armed rebels in Riyadh on a framework for peace talks with the Syrian regime is headline news in Arab media, with some commentators seeing hope for a political solution to the war.
Others are more wary, noting uncertainty over the attitude of some Islamist and Kurdish groups, not to mention the intentions of the United States and Russia.
Supporters of President Bashar al-Assad dismiss the talks for insisting that the Syrian leader must step down.
'Glimmer of hope'
Without playing down the enduring obstacles to any political settlement, Sabri al-Rubayhat in Jordan's Al-Ghad, external newspaper sees a "glimmer of hope for Syria and its people", if only because the opposition groups have become "tired and desperate" enough to try to overcome their differences.
World powers want peace talks between a unified opposition delegation and the government to start by 1 January
Nadir Bakkar in the Egyptian daily, Al-Shuruq al-Jadid, external, agrees that the meeting "offered the opposition a lifeline to escape the trap of disagreement" and sees the "start of a new, decisive stage" towards a political solution - as long as the various groups remain united.
Samih Shubayb in the Palestinian paper Al-Ayyam, external believes the "mosaic of groups" are uniting for the "post-Islamic-State era in Syria".
The major pan-Arab satellite TV channels report the story against the background of the continuing clashes.
Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya , externalsays Syrian and Russian forces are carrying out a "military escalation" against non-Islamist opposition strongholds in the north - which the Al-Alam Arabic satellite channel of Syria's Iranian ally prefers to call "liberation".
'Assad must go'
Gulf media and the London Arabic press largely take their cue from Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who called for President Assad "either to leave through negotiations or be forcibly removed from power".
This angers the pro-Assad media, with Syrian officials prominently criticising the comment on state TV.
The official Syrian newspaper, Al-Baath, external, says the Saudi government has "tailored the opposition to suit its own agendas" and those of Israel, while state TV repeats Iranian condemnation of Islamist "terror groups" attending the meeting.
Muhammad Ballut also denounces the demand for the Syrian leader to quit, in the pro-Assad Lebanese paper Al-Safir, external.
He says the "Saudis did a good job of destroying the October Vienna international agreement", and "returned the political solution to square one".
Like the Iranian official media, he plays up reports of opposition disunity, in particular over the composition of a delegation for the next stage of talks.
'Mirage'
Even in the firmly anti-Assad media there is scepticism about whether Russia and Iran - Syria's main backers - will allow those talks to make any progress.
Al-Arab al-Alamiyah’s left headline reads, ‘Russia, Iran disturbed at Syrian opposition unity success’
In the London press, Al-Quds Al-Arabi , externalsays negotiations would be a "mirage" while Russia continues to bomb the opposition, and Al-Arab al-Alamiyah, external believes Russia and Iran are "disturbed" by signs of opposition unity.
In the Jordanian press, Tariq Masarwah of Al-Rai, external says the absence of key Kurdish and Islamist groups undermines the credibility of the Riyadh meeting. Urayb al-Rintawi in Al-Dustur, external sees "collusion" rather than agreement between the disparate opposition factions.
Mr Masarwah adds moreover that "neither of the international players, the United States and Russia, is in any hurry to find a political solution".
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter, external and Facebook, external.
